by K. L. Donn
“Come on, sweet boy, let’s get some grub.”
“Grub?”
“Food, sweetie.”
“Oh. I fought you meant wike wion king, and they eat worms.” She wasn’t sure if his face showed excitement or disgust.
“Ummm, let’s go with gummy worms, and I’ll be fine with that.”
“Yay!”
“Here you go, mistress lady.” Case laughed as he glided towards them on the front of the cart.
As she was putting Jax in the child seat, a small car flew through the parking lot narrowly missing another car backing out.
“Jesus, it’s a parking lot, lady!” Case yelled at her.
Deciding to ignore the speeding idiot, she got Jax focused on what they would need. “What do we grab first, sweetie?”
“Cereal!”
Laughing at his enthusiasm she asked, “Then what?”
“Candy!” Her look had him rethinking that. “Cwackers?”
As they went through the aisles picking out the healthiest food she could find, Casey had ditched them a few aisles back in search of junk food because he couldn’t deal with the health crap.
A sharp bump from behind, followed sarcastically by, “Ooops, sorry,” had her turning around. The woman’s eyes were glued to Jax as he happily counted the animals on the box of animal crackers.
“It’s all right,” Dee replied hesitantly, not liking the look being directed the boy’s way.
As the person turned to leave, she asked her, “Do you make it a habit of stealing other women’s families?”
This must be Brooke.
“Excuse me?” Dee demanded, suddenly wishing Casey was done hoarding his junk food.
“You heard me. That’s my son, and you’ve stolen him and my husband away from me,” she snapped.
Shock resonated through her about the husband thing but years of neglect kept it from showing on her face. “The only thing I make a habit of doing is taking care of my family.” Brooke got a dark and bitter look on her face at that.
“You bitch! He’s my son, and I will have him back.”
When she went to reach for Jax, Deedee put a hand to her chest and pushed her back with a warning. “Don’t. Touch. Him.”
“Pincess?” Jax asked from behind her.
“It’s fine, little man.” She tried to soothe him, not taking her eyes off of Brooke.
“Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay. Mommy’s here now. I’ll take you from this mean, mean lady.” Brooke tried reaching for him again, only for Casey to come from behind her and grab her hand.
“Don’t think so, lady!” he barked.
“You not my mommy, pincess is!” Jax started yelling at her, tears beginning to well in his eyes.
“Get the fuck outta here, Brooke, or I’m not gonna be responsible for what happens to you,” Case whispered in her ear, so Jax didn’t hear the threat.
“Oh, please. You wouldn’t hurt a woman.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” She smiled triumphantly at that. “But that doesn’t mean Miss Dee won’t lay a beatdown on your skanky ass.” It was Case’s turn to smile at the shock on Brooke’s face.
Done with the whole encounter, Deidre turned around and gave Jax a small kiss on the cheek, telling Brooke over her shoulder, “Stay away from my family, or I promise you’ll regret it.”
A couple of minutes later, she heard tires squealing out of the parking lot just as Case met up with them after following her out, and while Jax was choosing the apples he wanted. He didn’t say anything to her, just started helping Jaxson load his bag full of fruit. At a loss about what to say or do at the moment, she was pissed the woman had the audacity to approach them the way she had.
She was extremely disgusted that Dom had slept with her. A shiver ran up her spine at just the thought of him touching her. But then she thought of how Jax wouldn’t be in her life if he hadn’t, so that outweighed the bad. It was still an abhorrent thought, though. Unfortunately, she knew their troubles with the bitchy woman were far from over. The look in her eyes while she watched her son worried Dee beyond belief. It showed possession like he was a toy to pass around or something. But worse, she looked vindictive. Like she knew that taking Jax from Dom would hurt him more than anything else could, and that scared the crap out of Dee.
“Dee? You all right?” Case asked concernedly as they made their way through the produce, with Jax picking all his favorites.
“Yeah, fine.” Her voice sounded robotic even to her.
“You know he never married her, right? He was in a bad place, and she took advantage.” Case was only doing what every best friend would do, but he was pissing her off.
“Just fucking let it go, Casey,” she snapped at him, instantly regretting it.
Gripping her arm, he pulled her to a stop. “Deidre, he would fucking die for you. Don’t let this stupid bitch ruin this. I see the way he looks at you, and I know he’s fucking gone. Handed in his man-card, fallen harder than the motherfucking Roman Empire.” By the end of his little speech, he had a triumphant smile on his face.
Logically, she knew she shouldn’t be upset about anything Brooke had to say. Emotionally, though? She was nearly destroyed at the thought of Dominic having feelings of any kind for her. They had a child together, so how could he not feel something?
“Tell me something, Casey.”
“Shoot.”
“Did he love her?” She was terrified of the answer. Do you really want to know?
“Honestly?” She nodded. “I have no idea. I was in a bad place of my own. We hadn’t spoken in longer than I care to admit. My gut says no; he was not an open man. He wouldn’t have let just anyone in. Not like he has with you.”
His honesty was refreshing and dreadful all at once. She hoped that what Dom felt for her was as consuming as what she felt for him, but how could she know. She’d never felt anything like it before. This was unchartered territory for her. The one thing she did know, though, was that she would fight with everything she had for him and Jaxson.
“Roman Empire, huh?”
“Hey, still waters run deep, lady. I’m not just another pretty face.” She laughed at the hurt look on his face just as his phone rang.
“Wanna bet that’s bossman?” He half-joked as he picked up his cell. “Yo, bossman.”
She didn’t hear anything Dom said, but from the paling of Casey’s face, she didn’t think it was good.
“That’s low man,” he grumbled, listening to something else Dom said before responding. “Well, the princess here demanded a field trip. Was I supposed to play the big bad bodyguard and tell her no?” She could hear the humor return to his voice now. “Next time you should be more clear with your tyrannical tactics then, and maybe let her in on the show. That way she can’t manipulate me.”
Handing her the phone, he mouthed “good luck” before finishing their produce exploration with Jax.
Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly answered. “Dominic?”
“Princess,” he growled angrily. “What are you doing?”
“Uhh, shopping?”
“That an answer or a question, Deidre?” Full name…shit.
“Both?” Dom didn’t scare her, not really, but she couldn’t see his eyes. They always told her the mood he was in.
“Deidre,” he growled again. “Why did you leave the house? You aren’t supposed to be out of bed yet.” Anger. Yup, he was really pissed. Great.
“I feel fine, Dominic. I was going stir crazy and Casey had your son eating an MRE! He’s three. He cannot eat those things.” She’d try a different tactic, play on his parental side.
“He eats them all the time.” Or not.
Sighing into the phone, she whispered, “You weren’t there. Where are you?”
“Miss me?” His voice softened.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be home soon; I promise. I had some things to take care of.”
“That
’s not vague or anything,” she grumbled, feeling her temper rise. Not feeling in the right frame of mind after her encounter with Brooke to deal with his vague answers.
“What’s going on, Deidre?” He had an edge to his voice she’d only ever heard him use with other people when he was getting frustrated. Normally, the strength and command in it had her ready to melt in a pool at his feet. Right then, she wanted to bash him in the head.
“I met Brooke,” was all she told him before handing the phone back to Casey as she took the cart from him and went to the checkout.
She could hear Dom’s voice yelling at him as she and Jax unloaded their groceries onto the belt. Looking up at Casey quickly, he was shooting dirty looks her way while still being hollered at. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued with her task.
*****
“How the fuck did that bitch get that close to them, Casey!” he yelled at his best friend. He was beyond pissed that Deidre had just walked away after dropping that bomb, and he couldn’t be there to gauge her reaction to meeting the parasite. More than ever regretting haven slept with her, but then he wouldn’t have Jax, and it was pretty fucking hard to regret his son for any reason.
“Look man, if I had thought for a second that cum guzzling, gutter slut would have been here, I obviously wouldn’t have brought them out to begin with.” Case tried to explain, but Dom was beyond reason.
“Why the fuck would you even take them out when we don’t know what the fuck is happening?”
“Well, she seemed pretty upset that pipsqueak was eating an MRE. Something about it not having proper nutrients or some shit. I don’t fucking know; the girl’s a manipulator. You better watch your ass with this one.”
Dom knew what he meant. All she had to do was bat her pretty little eyelashes, and he’d do whatever she asked. He just had to make sure she never figured that shit out.
“Look, I’m on my way. Keep your fucking eyes peeled with Brooke on the loose, and with the intel I just got, nothing had better happen to those two Case, or I will own your fucking balls,” he snarled.
“Always with the family jewels, man. Ain’t nothing going to happen to them. Chill out and get your ass back to the house ‘cause this girl looks fit to be tied.”
Hanging up with Case, he knew she was mad. She had every right to be. He should have woken her up and told her where he was going, but he’d been in a hurry to meet his contact.
Larry was someone he’d once trained with in boot camp and had kept in touch over the years. He had become a criminal investigator for the metro police because his hands are dipped in a little bit of everything. He knew Larry would pull through with the information he was looking for. Everyone in the tri-state area went to him when they needed someone located.
Turns out Dom had been right to worry.
Bradshaw and Brooke had both landed at the BWI Airport nearly one right after the other. He didn’t believe in coincidences, so now he knew that Bradshaw would probably have eyes on her soon. Brooke had already found them, which he had his D.C. contact looking into where she could have gotten that information from. He had no idea what anyone’s end game was with them, but he did know one thing; no one was taking Deidre or Jaxson from him.
It would be over his dead body before either happened.
Twelve
As Casey was driving them back to Dom’s farm, the hairs on the back of Dee’s neck felt like they were standing on end. Like they were trying to tell her something. She got a shiver up her spine as if someone had walked across her grave.
Covertly looking behind them as she pretended to check on a sleeping Jaxson, she spotted a dark SUV with tinted windows preventing her from seeing the passengers. To her it was suspicious. Facing forward again, she murmured, “Casey?”
“Yeah?” he responded seeming distracted.
“Does it feel like someone’s watching us?” She had to know it wasn’t just her.
“Nope.”
His short answers weren’t very comforting.
“That SUV is all tinted,” she suggested, hoping he’d let her in on whatever he was thinking.
“Yup.”
“Casey?” The fear in her voice was palpable.
He finally looked at her. “It’ll be fine, Double D.” He tried to joke with the name he’d given her a couple days before. It didn’t work.
“Should I call Dominic?”
“Nope.” His eyes were glued between looking at the road ahead, the rearview mirror, and his side mirror.
“But he should know.” She needed to hear his voice. She needed the comfort of his arms wrapped so tightly around her she couldn’t breathe. She needed Dominic.
“He does.”
Now she was confused. How could he possibly know? Unless he was following them.
Whipping around in her seat, she tried to see if the SUV was his when it sped up, slamming them from behind just as Casey told her, “Hang on!”
The impact had her head whipping back just as Jaxson woke up screaming in fear. “Sshhh, baby, it’s okay.” She tried soothe him. Unfortunately, her voice vibrated with her own fright.
“He hangin’ in there?” Case yelled over the boy’s screaming.
“I...I think so.”
“Turn around and hang the fuck on!”
But she couldn’t take her eyes off the SUV gaining speed on them.
Not when it slammed them so hard she hit the door cracking the back of her head off the window.
Not when it rammed them a third time, making them spin out.
“Turn the fuck around!” Casey yelled at her.
She was in some sort of trance. The need to see what was happening as it occurred overriding her fear to listen.
When she saw the passenger side window roll down and a body come out of it, she reacted on instinct. Unbuckling herself as Casey screamed at her again and Jaxson cried, she got one last look before gunfire erupted around them.
“Casey, down!” she screamed as loud as she could, hopping over the seat and unbuckling Jaxson just as glass exploded around them. She slammed onto the floor of the back seat, quickly turning over so Jax was under her and the glass pelted her back as it fell.
A curse came from Casey, followed by a hard hit from behind and some weird pop and hiss noise. She felt the truck begin to slow. Panic consumed her at the thought of being caught by whomever was after them. “Don’t stop, Casey!” Tears flowed heavily down her cheeks as the small boy in her arms whimpered in fear.
Risking a glance at Casey, she saw his shoulder covered in blood, and he was drooping to the side. “Casey?” she called, hoping he’d answer or wake up or something. “Casey!” she screamed louder.
“Sorry, Double D,” he sputtered as the truck slowed even more, and he slumped over all the way.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Acting fast, she held tightly to Jax as she hopped back over the front seat, landing where Casey should have been sitting. Slamming her foot on the gas, she scrambled to get Jax on the floor of the passenger seat. “Stay there, baby, don’t you move.” She tried to smile when he nodded, but even she could tell it was forced.
With one hand on the steering wheel and a quick look to see where the SUV was, she saw it gaining speed on them again, so she floored the gas as hard as she could.
“Casey?” she half-whispered, half-cried in fear that he was dead. Silence was her answer.
*****
As Dom was speeding back to the farm, he heard the quick rapport of gunfire just seconds before he saw it. “Don’t let it be them,” he bit out knowing full well it was going to be. Finally cresting the hill, he was unprepared for the scene before him. Case’s truck was speeding down the highway faster than he normally would, being chased by a dark SUV with a man perched out the passenger’s side window shooting at them. Rage consumed him to the point that all he could see was red. His woman and child were in that truck, and those fuckers thought they could shoot at them? I don’t fucking
think so.
Grabbing his cell, he quickly called it in to the authorities knowing that if he caught up to the assholes attacking his family, he would do as much damage as he could. Just as the SUV caught up to them, Case would book it away from them. Dom was confused because Case knew evasive maneuvers well enough to lose those guys. He’d aced the course in the Rangers. Hell, he’d even made the course better. But now he was driving like a scared soccer mom…“Motherfucker!”
Deidre was driving.
*****
“Casey!” He just couldn’t be dead. She needed his help. She didn’t know what to do. Barely holding onto the steering wheel to keep the truck straight wasn’t going to get them out of this deadly situation. “Casey, please wake up,” she cried.
“Pincess?” Jaxson’s scared voice pulled her out of her terror enough to realize she had to pull it together if only to keep him calm.
“It’ll be all right, baby. We’ll get through this.” Don’t let him hear the fear in my voice.
Another shot rang out making her scream, but it was bigger...louder. Not closer, just more. When the truck lurched to the right and she heard a pop and hiss, she knew they were in more trouble now than before.
“Casey! Wake up, goddamnit!” Her anxiety was back and burning bright as ever.
When she heard him moan, she had hope he was coming to, only for him to let out a huge breath that worried her almost as much as the uncontrollable vehicle.
“Okay, baby, here’s what we’re going to do–” she started to say just as another loud shot rang out and had them hitting the ditch. Jax’s cries grew louder and more panicked as her head collided with the steering wheel.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Slightly disoriented, she knew she had to get them out of there. Too bad the smoke from the engine would probably prevent that. As everything quieted down, she realized it was too still. As in there were no whimpers from Jax or moaning from Casey.
Running her hand up to Casey’s neck, all she felt was slick blood everywhere. The smell was pungent, coppery, like she’d been chewing on a penny. It overwhelmed her senses. As she searched his neck for a pulse, she reached out her other hand for Jaxson.
